Cleveland Indians pitcher Logan Allen had a decent debut as a starting pitcher Monday against the Kansas City Royals.
Unfortunately, the lefty’s performance was wasted with another disappointing outing from the Indians offense.
The Tribe dropped the much-anticipated home opener and sent nearly 9,000 Indians fan home in a bad mood.
The Good News
Logan Allen would have loved to pitch beyond the 5th inning, but he recognizes that bringing in Triston McKenzie was the best move for the team at that time.#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/FD1ZYNPLn4
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) April 5, 2021
Allen ended his day with a solid stat line.
Overall, Allen lasted five innings, struck out three, walked two, and gave up only two runs.
Tribe pitching coach Carl Willis was pleased with the outing, especially since it was Allen’s first MLB start since 2019.
However, the 23-year old committed one of baseball’s cardinal sins by throwing a 3-0 fastball right down Broadway to Whit Merrifield.
Merrifield promptly deposited that pitch over the fence.
Allen should not feel too ashamed.
Merrifield is crushing all pitchers at the moment with three homers and a .500 batting average on the young season.
The other good news for the Tribe was that Triston McKenzie pitched well also.
McKenzie fooled lots of Royals hitters and struck out five in over three innings of work.
This very well could be the year that McKenzie breaks through as a reliable fifth starter for the Tribe.
The Bad News
That's the game.#OurCLE pic.twitter.com/wsk2AN4m10
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) April 5, 2021
No runs.
Three hits.
Three bleeping hits!
Do these Indians hitters know that spring training is over and these games actually mean something?
Not to go on too big of a frustrated rant but this Tribe offense made Royals pitcher Danny Duffy look like Tom Glavine!
Sure, the Indians hitters did hit a few balls hard that ended up being tough-luck outs.
However, the offense simply cannot be shut out by a middle of the road starter like Duffy.
Most Tribe fans hoped that Sunday’s offensive explosion meant that the offense’s slump had ended.
Those hopes were dashed on Monday as the Tribe could not build any sort of momentum.
One has to wonder if the lack of offensive production has anything to do with the platoon approach being employed at so many different positions.
Of course, most hitters usually hit either right-handers or lefties at a better clip so platoons make sense at times.
However, several Indians players must get used to seeing live pitching only every other day.
It can be difficult to build any kind of groove at the plate in those scenarios.
Rest of the Week
It is sad to say this after only four games, but after a 1-3 start the off day on Tuesday comes at a great time.
Will the Indians take extra batting practice on the off day or will the whole team take the day to clear their heads?
Hopefully veteran manager Terry Francona knows what these players need and will get the team on the right track.
The Indians get another crack at the Royals on Wednesday with an early day game.
The Detroit Tigers come to C-Town for a three-game series which starts on Friday.
Hits often come in bunches so hopefully the Indians can string some together in the rest of this week’s games.
We know it is too early to panic, but poor offensive performances are just too painful to watch.
Leave a Reply